What reading is and is not

• Reading is a complex process.
• Reading is problem-solving.
• Reading is situationally-bounded.
• Reading development is an ongoing process.
• Reading is not just a basic skill.
• Fluent reading is not the same as decoding.

What good readers look like

• mentally engaged
• motivated to read and learn
• socially active around reading tasks
• intelligent and discriminating; they give a text a chance, but if it doesn't meet their interest or their needs, they trade it in for something that will
• strategic in monitoring the interactive processes that assist comprehension:
  1. setting goals that shape their reading processes
  2. monitoring their emerging understanding of a text
  3. coordinating a variety of comprehension strategies to control the reading process

What an effective Academic Literacy Program looks like

"The school library media specialist develops initiatives to encourage and engage learners in reading, writing, and listening for understanding and enjoyment" (Empowering Learners, 21).

• implemented and supported across the curriculum
• includes all students in order to ensure that no specific students are singled out and that no other students' reading problems are ignored
• based on specific learning goals
• supported by research that is applicable to the specific learners
• uses texts which portray different views of the role of reading in people's lives, give students practice reading in a variety of different disciplines, and are appropriately challenging (not too difficult, but difficult enough that students would be motivated to utilize new strategies)

Making reading processes explicit

• Typical adolescent self-absorption can be redirected into getting students to think about their own reading processes. They should be reading with their mind, engaging in metacognition.
• Students can be taught strategies for dealing with and eliminating distractions while reading. They can learn to develop control over their thinking.
• If students are expected to read challenging texts, they must be equipped with the proper tools for reading them.
• Student reading improves when students are self-aware and read strategically.
• The "invisible" processes of reading must be made visible-- and then practiced until they are second nature.
• The spirit of inquiry and the ability to develop one's own questions are essential to reading for understanding. Questions often reflect what you DO know-- not your ignorance.

Reading is context-dependent

• Reading for understanding depends more on an established context than innate intelligence: A doctor "might not have schemata for law like a lawyer does, but they are both smart" (99).

Valuing student knowledge

• Every student brings some prior knowedge to reading, but educators do not always help them activate knowledge from previous experiences, discussions, or readings.
• Allowing students to demonstrate and share their prior knowledge builds individual confidence and a more social/collaborative learning environment.

Working with the developmental characteristics of adolescents, not against them.

• Social Goals - Adolescents naturally have their own social goals. When you establish an environment of social collaboration in the classroom or library, these social goals also enable students to meet academic goals.
• Identity Formation - Because identity formation is an important part of adolescents' lives, they may be open to trying on new identities, such as the identity of a good reader.
• Sensitivity - In an environment where identifying confusion is both expected and valued, students' sensitivity to their own reading difficulties can be an asset.
• Values - Adolescents are developing their own values system and have a strong desire to change the world. This can motivate them to master "power codes," including the standards and conventions of written language.

Teachers as master readers

• Practicing strategic reading helps teachers understand how different students engage in reading inquiry.
• While teachers may read fluently in their own subject area, reading in other subject areas can help them identify stumbling blocks in the reading process that may also plague their students.
• Engaging in this sort of strategic reading means that teachers have to expand their self-definition to include "reading teacher."